Draft:Liberty Lady

{{Infobox aircraft occurrence

| name = Liberty Lady

| image = B-17_on_bomb_run.jpg

| image_size = 300px

| caption = A Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress in flight

| date = March 6, 1944

| summary =

| site = Mästermyr, Gotland, Sweden

| aircraft_type = Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

| aircraft_name = Liberty Lady

| operator = United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)

| tail_number =

| origin = RAF Thurleigh, England

| destination = Erkner, Germany (intended)

| crew = 10

| fatalities = 0

| injuries =

| survivors = 10

}}

File:B17_propeller_Örnahusen.jpg, Sweden]]

Liberty Lady was an American bomber aircraft of the type Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The aircraft crash-landed on the island of Gotland, Sweden, on March 6, 1944, after a 16-hour mission.

A book was in 2016 written containing the complete story of its final mission, fate and aftermath.

Liberty Lady during World War II

Liberty Lady was part of the 306th Bombardment Group in the U.S. Eighth Air Force’s 1st Bomb Division, stationed at Thurleigh near Bedford, England. The aircraft participated in the first daylight bombing raid on Berlin on March 6, 1944, as part of a formation of 730 bombers. They took off that morning to bomb a ball bearing factory in Erkner, on the eastern outskirts of Berlin. During the mission, Liberty Lady was hit by anti-aircraft artillery over central Berlin. One engine and a fuel tank were damaged. Following the incident, Liberty Lady changed course to the north towards Sweden instead of returning westward to Thurleigh.DiGeorge, Pat: [http://www.forcedlandingcollection.se/USAAF/USAAF019-440306-libertylady.html "Liberty Lady's History"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305050322/http://www.forcedlandingcollection.se/USAAF/USAAF019-440306-libertylady.html}}, Forced Landing CollectionGahm, Ulf (2012): “Amerikaner vilse” [Lost Americans], Gotlandsguiden - allt du behöver veta om Gotland 2012, Gotland: Visby.

Around 4 PM, the aircraft was observed over Öland, and it crash-landed at Mästermyr west of Hemse, approximately 45 km south of Visby on Gotland. The day after the emergency landing, the 10-man crew was transported to the Swedish mainland and then to the American internment camp in Rättvik.

Aftermath

Albin Larsson, a workshop owner and member of the Swedish Home Guard in Hemse, was the first to arrive at the crash site. He later purchased the wreckage for 250 kronor (excluding the engines). The wing beams were repurposed as roof trusses in Hemse and Havdhem.

Crew member Lieutenant Herman F. Allen, was interned and began working for his country's espionage agency, the OSS. He later married Hedvig Jonsson in the Gustav Vasa Church in Stockholm in January 1945.

On July 24, 1943, another B-17F, named Georgia Rebel, belly-landed near Årjäng. This aircraft was the first of a total of 68 B-17s to seek refuge in Sweden during World War II.[http://www.forcedlandingcollection.se/USAAF/indexUSAAF.html "Emergency Landings from the USA"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823031014/http://www.forcedlandingcollection.se/USAAF/indexUSAAF.html}}, Forced Landing Collection

Book publication

In 2016 a book was published entitled Liberty Lady: A True Story of Love and Espionage in WWII Sweden about the crash.{{cite news |last1=Patterson |first1=Lezlie |title=Love and espionage during World War II |url=https://www.thestate.com/living/article112815458.html |work=The State |date=5 November 2016}}